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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Empires in Arms the Napoleonic Wars of 1805 - 1815 >> October Update!

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October Update! - 10/2/2003 7:21:48 PM

Marshall Ellis

Posts: 5630
Joined: 10/2/2001
From: Dallas
Status: offline

Hey all:

Sorry for the late update but we're very busy with the PBEM features right now so things are a bit chaotic. As far as where we are? Well, PBEM is all we lack guys (Minus playtesting bugs and improvements). I wish I could say something definitive but again as a developer, I'm hesitant to do so.

We're creating a PBEM feature set that will work like this:

1. Host starts the game.
He also selects the options for the game and whether or not he will have GA powers. The GA powers will allow the host to kick people out of the game or allow the computer to play their nation for a phase BUT the powers are optional. Some players may not want to play with a host that has these powers which are revealed to each player before play. The host must also have the email addresses and the nations of each player for him to enter once then the start game file is emailed to all players.

2. Next player in sequence.
The next player then plays and when his turn ends, a file will be created for him to email to all other players. Some actions create message files to be sent to other players (To create alliances, etc.) for their responses. If you are waiting for your turn then the game will go into VIEW mode only allowing you to view items on the map but not change anything.

2a. Computer Players
If a computer player is right after a human player then typically it will play the computer and save its turn as well. This creates the need for the human player to send out a couple of turn files at the same time BUT the game will not allow the loading of a turn file out of sequence so it should be fine for a player to receive multiple turn files.

This is a high level overview of the PBEM flow. Let us know your thoughts...
Hang in ther guys...

Thank you

_____________________________

Thank you

Marshall Ellis
Outflank Strategy War Games

Post #: 1

- 10/2/2003 11:04:33 PM

pfnognoff

Posts: 631
Joined: 5/6/2003
From: Zagreb, Croatia
Status: offline

Just a quick question:

How big are the files we need to send?

Let's say I'm playing against a friend and 5 AIs, I guess one of us will be sending 6 files. They better be small if all you have is a lousy dial-up over phone line connection. :D

(in reply to Marshall Ellis)

Post #: 2

- 10/8/2003 9:06:54 PM

zonanera

Posts: 2
Joined: 7/6/2001
From: Milano - Italy
Status: offline

I really hope so :(

_____________________________

(in reply to Marshall Ellis)

Post #: 3

- 10/23/2003 1:48:12 AM

Endur

Posts: 18
Joined: 10/22/2003
Status: offline

I agree with the other comments. I've played at least half a dozen email games of EIA over the past ten years.

Some comments. Definitely have a feature so that a live player or a computer player can be replaced with a new live player. And that includes the Host as well, as there is no reason to believe the Host is any less likely to drop out of the game.

For 2a, where a computer player runs his turn right after a human player, that sounds good, but in that case, I would not send out seperate turn files, but instead bundle them some how (i.e. zip them up) as one file and let the game unzip them and read them in on the other player's computers.

[QUOTE=Marshall Ellis]Hey all:

Sorry for the late update but we're very busy with the PBEM features right now so things are a bit chaotic. As far as where we are? Well, PBEM is all we lack guys (Minus playtesting bugs and improvements). I wish I could say something definitive but again as a developer, I'm hesitant to do so.

We're creating a PBEM feature set that will work like this:

1. Host starts the game.
He also selects the options for the game and whether or not he will have GA powers. The GA powers will allow the host to kick people out of the game or allow the computer to play their nation for a phase BUT the powers are optional. Some players may not want to play with a host that has these powers which are revealed to each player before play. The host must also have the email addresses and the nations of each player for him to enter once then the start game file is emailed to all players.

2. Next player in sequence.
The next player then plays and when his turn ends, a file will be created for him to email to all other players. Some actions create message files to be sent to other players (To create alliances, etc.) for their responses. If you are waiting for your turn then the game will go into VIEW mode only allowing you to view items on the map but not change anything.

2a. Computer Players
If a computer player is right after a human player then typically it will play the computer and save its turn as well. This creates the need for the human player to send out a couple of turn files at the same time BUT the game will not allow the loading of a turn file out of sequence so it should be fine for a player to receive multiple turn files.

This is a high level overview of the PBEM flow. Let us know your thoughts...
Hang in ther guys...

Thank you[/QUOTE]

(in reply to Marshall Ellis)

Post #: 4